This should be my last update about Bitcoin Core.
I got myself a 1TB SSD and downloaded the whole blockchain, plus I synced it up.
Here's where I'm at:
I've got this folder (D:\Bitcoin) 89.8 MB that has:
daemon, share, bitcoin.conf, bitcoin-qt.exe, COPYING.txt, readme.txt, and uninstall.exe.
Then there's this other folder (D:\BitcoinDownload) 585 GB that includes:
blocks, chainstate, DefaultWallet, .lock, banlist.json, bitcoind.pid,
debug.log, fee_estimates.dat, mempool.dat, peers.dat, and settings.json.
The "DefaultWallet" is just what I created after the download and sync completed.
I've got my old wallet.dat from 2013 that I'm trying to access, but I figured I should test with an example wallet.dat first to make sure Bitcoin Core is running as it should (I've done several backups of the .dat).
So, I was checking around here and found this post:
https://this forum.org/index.php?topic=5242967.0
"- Balance = 362.00495819 BTC. (Main Bitcoin Address: 1Jkn9wg1WbJdASNBPtQqdmm7wtrcSiATbf). Fake 'wallet.dat'. Download here. Password: 'Hunnibear9'."
I went ahead and downloaded this file from a trusted member (I know it’s fake) named "wallet_fake_008.dat".
I saved it in:
D:\BitcoinDownload\wallet_fake_008.dat
Now, I'm about to start Bitcoin Core (as Administrator) and going to: File > Restore Wallet > D:\BitcoinDownload\wallet_fake_008.dat
It asks for "Wallet Name" and I typed in "Fake".
After that, I see just "Restoring Wallet Fake..."
So my questions are:
Am I on the right track?
Is there a real difference between Restoring and Opening?
How long does it usually take to restore a wallet?
I don't get it: you have Bitcoin Core fully synced, and you have your own old wallet.dat with enough backups. I'd say take it offline, keep it offline, and load your wallet into Bitcoin Core.
Why would you bother opening fake potentially dangerous wallets instead of your own wallet?
There is no problem with what you did to restore the fake wallet old version of Bitcoin Core does not have a restore button under the file menu but if you are using the latest version of Bitcoin Core it does have a restore button. Importing the wallet.dat file in the old version of Bitcoin core is through pasting the wallet file on a data storage location on the latest version you will need to use the restore option to import the wallet or the open wallet option would only work if you already have existed wallet.dat file with a separate folder under Bitcoin data folder if you don't have existed wallet folder under Bitcoin data folder you can't find any option on "open wallet" check the image below.
So you will need the restore option when importing a wallet.dat file or you can manually make a folder under "D:\BitcoinDownload\" and put the wallet.dat file under that folder (Make sure you rename it to wallet.dat).
Sample result below
Here's my data folder
Inside the fakewallet folder
I'm working under pretty secure conditions etc, fresh virtual machine with the important data isolated.
Just trying to understand the functionality of Bitcoin Core.
Thanks for the thorough reply.
I'm on the latest version of Bitcoin Core which DOES have the restore option, however I'm following what you said.
I've made "fakewallect" directory -
D:\BitcoinDownload\fakewallet
I've renamed the fake wallet to wallet.dat
D:\BitcoinDownload\fakewallet\wallet.dat
I've ran Bitcoin Core as Administrator, and used the "Open" feature.
Now it's just "Opening Wallet fakewallet.." (5 minutes and counting)
Does the "fake wallet" open instantly for you? (of course you may not want to risk this incase it's an infected file idk).
I just have a feeling what something with my Bitcoin Setup is incorrect.
[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]
I don't have your fake wallet file I just created mine and it's clean and it does not have much data yet that is why it loads instantly unlike yours.
If your wallet.dat file already has some data like lots of transactions, public keys, public keys, etc... then it would load too long.
About this "I just have a feeling what something with my Bitcoin Setup is incorrect." why did you say your Bitcoin setup is incorrect?
If you downloaded it from bitcoincore.org and verified it, it should be safe except for the fake wallet file you have we do not know if the trusted users you said sent you a clean wallet file.
- It works but, with Restore, you don't have to place it inside your bitcoin data directory because...
- Because with "Restore", Bitcoin Core will create its own wallet path inside wallets folder, the folder will be named as the wallet name that you've set.
Then it will make a copy of the wallet file that you've selected, and load it.
Basically, all you did in post #5, but done automatically.
With "Open", it skips all the above and proceeds to load the wallet file, but the option can only see wallets in the data directory or wallets folder.
In this case, pasting the "wallet_fake_008.dat" in the datadir/walletsdir is necessary.
- Differs per wallet and machine specs.
So your trying to understand core?
"I have my own old 2013 wallet.dat I'm trying to open, but first, I thought I'd find an example wallet.dat
and test it out to ensure Bitcoin Core is functioning correctly (i have made multiple .dat backups)."
So you know a thing or 2 already, you got as far as exporting a .dat from core in 2013, downloading things like that from someone who actually has no established trust isnt the best idea even on vm.
thank you for this post. when i got to restore, i cannot see the wallet.dat file. this is in linux. i thought i have "shown hidden files" in the GUI but when the browser comes up to locate the wallet.dat file, none of those hidden files are shown. i assume there is a setting i missed in linux?
It's probably not related to your hidden file setting and just your wallet backup's name, maybe you've renamed the wallet.dat's extension into something other than ".dat"?
Because that browser window can only see directories (folders) and anything with '.dat' extension.